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Phil Davis cries foul over who how title fights are determined

Light heavyweight contender Phil Davis isn’t all that pleased with the layout of the division as it relates to title fights. I’m not sure if he’s “complaining,” or just pointing out the obvious. Either way, Davis is left scratching his head at the landscape of the division and who ends up getting to fight for the belt.

“I mean listen,” he told MMA Fighting in a frank discussion. “It can be any combination of title things that get you a title shot. Apparently fighting Roy Nelson and then fighting Pat Cummins gets you a title shot.” That’s a direct shot at Daniel Cormier’s route to the title, which appears to be getting closer by the minute.

“Maybe beating no one in the top 10 like Glover did gets you a title shot,” he added. “There’s no rhyme or reason to getting a title shot. So, beating the number one contender does not get you a title shot. At this point, I don’t really care; I think I’m in the best in the world so I’ll just keep fighting whoever they put in the cage.”

It’s hard to argue with what Davis is saying. Glover Teixeira is awaiting his chance at Jon Jones’ belt next month at UFC 172. His biggest win to date was probably either Rampage Jackson or Ryan Bader. Bader is currently ranked #10, but the lower half of the LHW rankings have been a mess for the past couple years.

As for Cormier, I doubt anyone questions his credentials at this point. And the Pat Cummins fight wasn’t exactly his fault. But the fact is, he’s had one fight at 205 and it was against a guy who wouldn’t show up anywhere near anyone’s top 20 list—or 25 or 30.

As for Davis himself, he sits at #4. He has key wins over #5 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (a ranking I’ve questioned) and most recently, Lyoto Machida—who will be fighting for the middleweight title in his next outing. On paper, Davis has a point. Instead of eyeing a title, he’ll have to face the returning Anthony Johnson, and play second fiddle on the UFC 172 card.

“(Johnson’s) not the guy I wanted,” Davis said. “But pretty much everyone else was booked, so it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it was like, I’ll take it at this point.”